Open Eye Gallery and Liverpool City Region Combined Authority present the 2023 Liverpool City Region Photography Awards Winners Exhibition. The competition, announced in November 2022, received over 1900 images in two months, proving that Liverpool City Region is truly a place for photographers!

The judges selected 11 category winners and 33 commended submissions, which make up the physical exhibition, as well as juror’s choice – photographs that received a special mention from the judges. An image from every entry features in the Digital Window Gallery exhibition. The overall winner was announced on the opening night. 

These photographs tell impressive stories, be it the joy of a football game, personal stories of love, grief and gratitude, buzz of everyday urban life, quiet trips to be in nature or journeys to the most exotic places. From portrait to landscape, from still life to wildlife they show the power of a photograph: to bring us nearer to things we miss, to communicate beyond language, and connect instantly. 

2023 Liverpool City Region Photo Awards was created by Open Eye Gallery and Liverpool City Region Combined Authority to celebrate the culture, creativity and vibrancy across our city region — we want to make some noise about the talent living right here. Submissions were open to anyone living in the Liverpool City Region. The prize fund is £1,600, and there are also special prizes: Darkroom membership from dot-art, stay and breakfast at INNSiDE Liverpool, and Darkroom materials from Harman Technology.

Speaking about choosing the winners and curating the exhibition, the judges say:

Craig Easton, Photographer, Overall Winner of the 2021 Sony World Photography Awards said: It has been fascinating to see the breadth and diversity of work from photographers of all kinds across the Liverpool City Region: from social documentary to fashion and wildlife to sports, I’m delighted to see how much people are engaging with photography in the region and thinking about the pictures they make.

Mariama Attah, Judge for the 2022 Sony World Photography Award, Head of Exhibitions Open Eye Gallery: The LCR Photo Awards celebrates not only the photographic talent in the region, but also the deep love and personal approaches of how photography can be used. The images here show the range and imagination of visual culture, forming an impressive and reflective inaugural exhibition.

Lindsay Taylor, Judge for 2021 Sony World Photography Awards, Curator, University of Salford Art Collection: It was truly a privilege and delight to be invited to judge these awards. It was wonderful to see so much creativity, inspiration and talent from across the city region. Congratulations to everyone who took part!

Sarah Lovell, Lead Officer – Culture Coordinator, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority: This is the first year we have held these Awards and we have been blown away by the response and quality of the entries!  We hope this will be a regular event and that it will inspire a whole new generation of photographers from the Liverpool City Region.

Categories and winners:

People and Places. Telling stories of populated spaces – how does an environment influence a culture and how do people change a place?

First place: Ahmed Mohammed

Commended: David Wallace, Mary Turner, Alex Mew

Still Life. Showing how an arrangement of things can elevate them and how stillness can become sculptural. 

First place: Helen Jones

Commended: Dominic McDermott, Alberto Gonzalez, Marta Jankune

Living sustainably. The stories of lifestyles conscious of the environment and our place in it.

First place: Hellen Songa

Commended: Kirsty Thomas, Solenna Le Goff, Ellie Byrne

Sport. The faces of victory and the poise of an athlete can pass in a moment unless a sharp eye manages to catch them.

First place: Robert David

Commended: Nick Gerrard, Andrew Dunford, Hana Basir

Portrait. A portrait is how we learn about something though human context — what are the stories a face can tell? 

First place: Dross

Commended: Mark Peachy, Mark Taylor, Abby Ready

Urban Living. What does living in the city look like? Stories of culture and lived experience.

First place:Harry Flook

Commended: Kane Lyons, Jon Grimshaw, Sam Jones

Creative. What photography can look like with different techniques and experiments?

First place: Natalie Close

Commended: Caleb Byrne-Smith, Chloe Sharpe, Jiaqi Luo

Wildlife and Nature. Inspired by the wealth of biodiversity across the Liverpool City Region. 

First place: Jane MacNeil

Commended: Nataly Pooley, Chris Cullum, Matt Thomas.

Analogue

First place: Tim Brunsden

Commended: Ricky Narito, Dan Schoolar, Lauren Seatter-Messer

Youth

First Place: James Clements

Commended: Coralie Lane, Kyle Pooley, Jamie Leroux

Mobile

First Place: Mohammed Hasan

Commended: Faye Heran, Kirsty Thomas, Sanna King.

Jurors’ Choice: Michelle Webster, Georgia Lischke, Pete Carr, Tom Hyatt.

Overall winners: Ahmed Mohamed and Jane MacNeil 

The judges are:

Overall winner:

• Lindsay Taylor (Judge for 2021 Sony World Photography Awards, Curator, University of Salford Art Collection)
• Mariama Attah (Judge for the 2022 Sony World Photography Award, Head of Exhibitions, Open Eye Gallery)
• Craig Easton (Photographer, Overall Winner of the 2021 Sony World Photography Awards)
• Sarah Lovell (Lead Officer – Culture Coordinator, Liverpool City Region Combined Authority)

People and places:

• Tina Ball (Kirkby Gallery, Culture Development & Events Officer)
• Arshmeena Durrani (Junior Project Manager – Race Equality, Liverpool City Region)
• Brian Churchill (Sales Manager, INNSiDE Liverpool)

 Still Life:

• Peter Frost (Director, World of Glass)
• Andy Campbell (Principal Media Manager Communications & Marketing, Liverpool City Region)
• Declan Connolly (Programme Assistant, Open Eye Gallery)

Living Sustainably:

• Stephen Whittle (Principal Manager, Museum, Gallery & Operations, The Atkinson)
• Philippa Lee (Senior Commercial & Projects Lawyer, Liverpool City Region)
• Núria Rovira Terradas (Assistant Creative Producer, Open Eye Gallery)

Sport:

• Janet Dugdale (Director of Museums at National Museums Liverpool)
• Craig Thomason (Partnerships and Communities Manager, Community Integrated Care)
• Emeka Onuora (Race Equality Manager, Liverpool City Region)

Portrait:

• Philippa Crofts (Conservation, The Hardman’s House)
• Jan Leong (Senior Commercial & Projects Lawyer, Liverpool City Region)
• Lee Rooney (Communications Officer, Liverpool City Region)

Urban Living:

• Niall Hodson (Curator, Williamson Art Gallery and Museum)
• Helen Cross (Digital and Creative Sector Lead, Growth Platform)
• Maxine Joy ( Practitioner Homelessness / Housing First, Liverpool City Region)

Creative:

• Adam Smythe (Curator, The Bluecoat)
• Nick Bell (Programme Manager Households into Work, Liverpool City Region)
• Clare Barber (Senior Media and Communications Officer, Liverpool City Region)

Wildlife and Nature:

• Dave McAleavy (Project Manager, Mersey Forest)
• Lorna Rogers (Asst Director Mayoral Programme Delivery, Liverpool City Region)
• Sorcha Boyle (Responsive Programme Coordinator, Open Eye Gallery)

Youth:

• Lucy Byrne (Director, dot-art)
• Dave Roscoe (Past President, The Atheneum)
• Bronwyn Andrews (Assistant Creative Producer, Open Eye Gallery)

Mobile:

• Nicola Triscott (Director/ CEO, FACT)
• Rob Ingman (Transport Network Performance Operations Manager, Liverpool City Region)
• Anna WijnHoven (Assistant Creative Producer, Open Eye Gallery)

Analogue:

• Rachel Brewster (dot-art Darkroom and Little Vintage Photography)
• Neil Hibbs (Technical Services and Photographic Lab Manager, Harman Technology)
• Maria Gulina (Digital Marketing, Communications and Content Producer, Open Eye Gallery)

Image: Andrew Dunford, Veterans Cup